PUTNAM COUNTY CLASSIC: Tiger Cubs find enough to win double-OT consolation over Clovers

Cloverdale's Tayt Jackson gets a runner to go down that would help the visitors force extra basketball in the consolation of the Putnam County Classic against Greencastle Friday night. The Clovers and Tiger Cubs would play two extra periods with the latter finally able to come out with a 40-38 win.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

McAnally Center was host to an exciting, albeit offensively-challenged, consolation game in the 2023 boys’ Putnam County Classic. The Greencastle Tiger Cubs overcame a 14-minute scoreless stretch to squeak by the Cloverdale Clovers 40-38 in double overtime on Friday night.

The Tiger Cubs did not score from the 3:04 mark in the third quarter until under a minute to play in the first overtime as both teams combined to shoot under 26 percent (24-of-93) from the floor and an atrocious 3-of-38 from behind the three-point arc. The win improved Greencastle’s record to 4-16, while the Clovers fell to 1-19.

“This was a hard game to watch, a hard game to coach, but I’d rather have an ugly win than a pretty loss,” Greencastle head coach Bryce Rector said.

The first half saw the Tiger Cubs slowly extend a lead. Cloverdale fell behind early 10-3 despite two Clover timeouts in the first quarter. A late rebound basket by Garrett Monnett cut the lead to 10-5 after one period.

“We competed; their coach (speaking of himself) was a little more vociferous tonight. This team really responded and worked hard. We struggle shooting the ball and tonight was no different,” Cloverdale head coach Karl Turk said.

Greencastle seemed have the game in hand as they were able to put together a little offense in the second quarter and slowly pushed the lead to 24-11. Sam Gooch had a pair of early buckets for the hosts, but Tayt Jackson added a pair of free throws late to cut the halftime score to 24-13 in favor of the Cubs.

Greencastle’s Anthony Adams scored on a jumper with 3:04 left in the third to take a 29-16 lead but, from there, the Cubs would not score again for what seemed like an eternity. Cloverdale cut the lead 29-23 after three quarters as Mcguire Lee would knock down four late free throws for the Clovers.

“We got to the line tonight, we were aggressive when we were supposed to be,” Turk said.

Greencastle’s offensive woes continued in the fourth quarter as they would not tally a point in going 0-9 from the field. The Clovers didn’t take enough of an advantage of their stellar defensive effort as they scored six points to tie the score. Indicative of the game as a whole, neither team scored in the final 2:10 of regulation play and were tied 29-all.

“This is Indiana, these games mean something. I knew both teams would respect the game and play hard. We did and so did they,” Turk said of playing in the consolation game.

Cloverdale came out and seemed to take control in the first overtime. The Clovers took the lead and stretched it to 34-29 with :56 left on the clock as Jackson knocked down a free throw.

Gooch took the ball to other end of the floor and went to the basket for a layup and then knocked in two free throws to cut the lead to 34-33 with just :35 left to play. Jackson added another pair of free throws to give the Clovers a 36-33 lead.

Cloverdale could not finish at the line though, as a missed pair of free throws late allowed Cody Evans to can a three-pointer with :13 left in the first overtime, tying the score at 36-36.

“Our kids could have just shut down, but to their credit they didn’t. That was two freshman (Gooch and Evans) who made big plays. A lot of freshman think they have to get a three-pointer right away, but Sam made the right plays,” Rector said.

Cole Hutcheson knocked down four free throws in the early part of the second overtime and Cloverdale could not overcome that lead. As normal for this game, the teams missed five-straight free throws in the final minute and the Cubs would finish the marathon with a 40-38 victory.

“This game was lost at the free throw line. We didn’t convert them,” Turk said.

Greencastle was led by Gooch with 12 points and Hutcheson added 10. Jackson had 14 points for the Clovers and Monnett finished with eight.

The teams will take a break until Tuesday when Cloverdale will host Western Indiana Conference foe West Vigo and Greencastle will travel to Cascade.

CLOVERDALE (38) – Jackson 2-10 9-15 14, Hilton 0-2 0-0 0, Betz 3-12 1-1 8, Monnett 3-8 2-2 8, Lee 1-4 4-6 6, Johnson 1-4 0-0 2, McGuire 0-1 0-3 0. Totals 10-41 FG, 16-27 FT, 38 TP.

GREENCASTLE (40) – Gooch 5-13 2-2 12, Adams 4-10 1-2 9, Evans 2-10 1-4 6, Simmerman 1-2 1-1 3, Hutcheson 2-15 6-6 10, Ensley 0-2 0-0 0, McRoberts 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-52 FG, 11-15 FT, 40 TP.

3-point shooting – CHS 2-18 (Jackson 1-5, Hilton 0-1, Betz 1-7, Monnett 0-2, Lee 0-1, Johnson 0-2), GHS 1-20 (Gooch 0-2, Adams 0-3, Evans 1-7, Hutcheson 0-6, Ensley 0-2). Rebounds – CHS 40 (Jackson 13, Hilton 1, Betz 5, Monnett 4, Lee 6, Johnson 6, McGuire 1) GHS – 36 (Gooch 7, Adams 8, Evans 10, Simmerman 4, Hutcheson 5, Ensley 2) FG Pct. – CHS 24.4, GHS 26.9. FT Pct. – CHS 59.3, GHS 73.3. Turnovers – CHS 10, GHS 6.